Steven Drummond was a shooting star for the Carolina Panthers for a long time. I thought one day he would become the Panthers’ team president.
Instead, Drummond resigned from the Panthers on Wednesday, meaning the team has lost a high-level executive as well as one of its top-ranking Black executives.
Drummond, 44, was the Panthers’ vice president of football operations and the highest-ranking Black official on the football side of the organization. Drummond ranked behind only general manager Scott Fitterer and assistant manager Dan Morgan.
As a teenager, Drummond grew up alongside the Panthers. He worked in the team equipment room as an intern while still in high school for the very first Carolina squad in 1995.
After spending several post-college years working for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Drummond returned to the Panthers in 2005. He was promoted to the team’s director of communications in 2015 and oversaw all of the Panthers’ media relations during the run to Super Bowl 50, later adding responsibilities for digital media and broadcast in 2017.
Drummond was involved in almost every facet of the football operation at one time or another. He was one of the few executives to survive the purge of Jerry Richardson-era employees when Dave Tepper bought the Panthers from Richardson in 2018.
Drummond declined comment about his departure when I reached him Wednesday. But it’s an open secret around Bank of America Stadium that Tepper passed over Drummond when the owner was hiring a new team president in early 2022. Instead, Tepper promoted then-chief financial officer Kristi Coleman into that role after Tom Glick suddenly resigned.
Coleman’s promotion was announced around the same time as Nick Kelly’s. Kelly became Tepper Sports & Entertainment’s chief executive officer in early 2022, but then lasted only three months on the job before stepping down under mysterious circumstances.
A Panthers spokesman said Wednesday the team makes a policy of not commenting on personnel matters.
But it seems to me, from reading the tea leaves, that Drummond knew he was never going to become the Panthers’ team president after Coleman’s promotion. And, since a team presidency wasn’t in the cards and Drummond is ambitious, it was probably time to think about other options.
It’s been obvious that Drummond wasn’t as integral a part of the organization as he had been over the past few months. Although Drummond was on the search committee that hired Matt Rhule as head coach, he wasn’t a part of the one that hired Frank Reich in January, and hadn’t been spotted at high-profile Panther events this offseason, as he normally would be.
Drummond is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of North Carolina, undoubtedly feeling that an advanced degree will help him with whatever his next job is. I do know from previous conversations and firsthand observation that Drummond wants to lead an organization or team himself. It’s clear that he’s more than capable of doing so.
It won’t be with the Panthers, though.
In a statement put out by the Panthers on Drummond’s behalf, Drummond said: “With the changes this offseason, this seemed like a good time to transition to other interests. I have enjoyed my time with the Panthers and appreciate the opportunities they gave me. I will continue to root for their success.”
